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IDC: Android and iOS continue to carve up the world, another record quarter for smartphones
According to IDC's latest figures, Android and iOS now account for 85 percent of the 152 million smartphones shipped in Q2 2012. Google's OS powered 68.1 percent of all smartphones sold -- with Samsung making the hardware behind for just under half of those. Apple's smartphones now claim a 16.9 percent marketshare and while plenty of phone shoppers are holding out for the iPhone's next iteration, iOS still saw double-digit growth in Q2. There's more bad news for both BlackBerry and Symbian platforms, which, combined, accounted for less than 10 percent of all smartphones shipped last quarter. Windows Phone 7, meanwhile, hasn't quite made it to that hallowed third place it reckons it deserves. The mobile OS continues to grow, however, albeit at a gentler rate than both iOS and Android. Microsoft's likely pinning its hopes on the adjustable widgets and meatier specifications of Windows Phone 8 to draw in some new customers this fall.
Nokia Drive offline navigation review: taking the Lumia 900 for an off-the-grid spin
I've sung praises about it for years, but it seems like only now the industry is getting on the same train of thought. It could be my unnatural adoration of travel, or just an entirely healthy fear of getting lost, but offline navigation has long since been a top priority for me when choosing a mobile device. Or, more importantly, a mobile operating system. For the longest while, iOS forced my hand to Android due to Google Maps Navigation being available only on the latter, and while even that wasn't offline, it still far surpassed any other routing app in terms of system integration, map updates and general silkiness. Even dating back to our 2010 mobile GPS shootout, Nokia has been a player. At that time, it was the outfit's Ovi Maps leading the pack, offering the only legitimate offline solution amongst a legion of ho-hum alternatives that required bits of data to keep you on track. But frankly, there wasn't a Symbian device in Nokia's stable that could show up my Nexus One in terms of overall utility, so begrudgingly, I pushed it aside. Eventually, Google came around and added caching to routes, which effectively downloaded all routing guidance along your path as soon as you plugged in a destination. The killer, however, was that it wouldn't take too kindly to veering far from that path should you ever drop signal. Close, but no cigar. Fast forward to today, and we've got Google Maps already working in offline mode for Android 2.2+ devices. Furthermore, the company's Brian McClendon confessed to us at its June 2012 'Maps' event that it's "committed" to bringing all of the app's features to iOS (and potentially other platforms). But in my haste to find something in the here and now, I recently turned to the Lumia 900 for guidance. Literally. Back in late March, the Lumia-exclusive Nokia Drive application gained full offline access, and I sought to use the handset exclusively to navigate a 1,900-mile trek through some of America's most remote locales. How'd it go? Join us after the break to find out. %Gallery-159721%
Skulls of the Shogun launching alongside Windows 8 this October [Update: Delayed]
Skulls of the Shogun isn't just an Xbox Live Arcade game, y'all. It's also a Windows 8 game, a Windows Phone 7 game, and a Surface game. So when Microsoft announced the launch date for Windows 8 yesterday, we couldn't help but wonder if that meant Skulls of the Shogun would launch alongside it. "The plan is to sim-ship on Win 8 (desktop, and both versions of Surface), Windows Phone 7 and XBLA in the same week," 17-bit's Jake Kazdal told us. So, uh, sounds like it!He added one caveat. "We're certainly shooting for day one release with Win 8, and it looks very likely, but nothing is set in stone yet," he said. Windows 8 launches on October 26, meaning you'll likely have your hands on those shogun skulls ahead of Halloween. And considering the dev studio's former name is Haunted Temple, that seems rather fitting, no?Update: Skulls of the Shogun missed its Windows 8 launch, but is now scheduled to hit on January 30 for XBLA, Windows 8, Windows Surface and Windows Phone.
Nokia shutters two Chinese offices as part of strategic reorganization in the region
There's a hole in Nokia's heart and it goes all the way to China. Following news this past April that a massive restructuring effort was underway for Espoo's Asian operations, comes word that offices in Chengdu and Shanghai have been closed amidst declining market share. That's according to the Wall Street Journal which says the layoffs are targeted at the company's Chinese sales division -- an area Elop's made clear is essential for growth -- as Nokia's presence in the region has dwindled to 11 percent in Q1, a sharp drop from its more robust 30 percent share last Q2 2011. And with increasing competition from rival OEMs, the layoffs are expected to continue while the house that Lumia's attempting to rebuild gains its footing.
Nokia Store has 120,000 apps, over 120 million users, foggy future
As Nokia starts to roll out its latest slice of Symbian-powered hardware across Europe, the manufacturer has bundled up some upbeat usage statistics for its developers. It's a mixture of global clout, big user numbers and several mobile platforms, with Nokia declaring support from 145 operators, across 52 different markets. Its app hub, Nokia Store, is now available in over 190 countries, while there's now over 100,000 "content items" for its simpler Series 40 handsets, with those devices accounting for 42 percent of the last billion items downloaded. The Nokia Store itself has now served over five billion downloads across all of its mobile OS'. There's also some good news for its most recent addition, Windows Phone, which has already caught up with Nokia's own selection with over 100,000 apps to choose from. Over 20,000 Lumia phones have been offered to developers in tandem with Microsoft's Windows Phone seeding program and, according to the beleaguered phone maker, the ecosystem is now "starting to thrive" -- which is good news, considering Symbian's lingering death sentence. Nokia also took the opportunity to highlight its exclusive third-party app offerings from the likes of CNN, ESPN and Sesame Street -- although the jewels of the Lumia series' app provision arguably remain the in-house likes of Nokia Maps and Mix Radio.
Twitter for Windows Phone gets pushy, adds Notifications support
Starting this week, Windows Phone users with a Twitter fixation will have a much easier time feeding the little, blue, bird-shaped beast. The latest update to the app features long-awaited Notifications support. Downloading version 1.5 will deliver such important Twitter info as retweets, mentions, direct messages, new followers and favorited tweets to the forefront where they belong. You can download the app in the source link below and then tell all your friends through the microblogging service of your choice, whatever that might be. Fair warning in the meantime -- a number of folks are reporting issues with the update, and we've had some difficulty getting it up an running on our own handsets. Feel free to sound off in the comments below -- since you may have some trouble doing so on Twitter.
Editorial: Windows Phone 8 looks good, but can it uproot those entrenched in other ecosystems?
At the tail end of Microsoft's marathon Windows Phone Summit keynote, the company's own Kevin Gallo said the following: "Everyone in the Windows ecosystem benefits." He was waxing poetic about the myriad new features coming to the outfit's latest and greatest mobile operating system, and nothing about his quote was incorrect. Developers will adore the shared codebase. Users will adore the new additions to the software framework. Carriers probably won't shun the opportunity to push yet another platform this holiday season. But the one word in there that sticks out most to me is this: "Windows." I've been wrestling with the ecosystem issue for some time, but the gravity of it has never been so evident. Starting in 2008, one could argue that it stopped being purely about hardware. Purely about design. Purely about software. Purely about partnerships. Particularly when it came to smartphones. Slate-style handsets were en vogue years ago, with design changing extremely little and software becoming ever more of a factor. But it wasn't just software in the simplest sense -- it was how the software was interconnected to every other piece of the digital ecosystem. Phones were no longer standalone devices; they were simply the most convenient entry into a rabbit hole that Microsoft's going to have a tough time digging people out of. Allow me to explain.
Windows Phone 8 updates coming over the air, early access to 'registered enthusiasts,' 18 month support program announced
Tired of plugging your Lumia 900 into your PC or Mac in order to apply software updates? Tough luck -- you'll still be doing it while future buyers snack on Windows Phone 8. Harshness aside, Microsoft made clear at today's Windows Phone Summit that all WP8 updates will be delivered over the air, with an available program to give "registered enthusiasts" early access prior to broad consumer pushes. The real kicker, however, is this line: "Devices are supported with updates for at least 18 months." For those keeping count, the Lumia 900 shipped here in the US on April 8th. Two months later, it's already confirmed that the flagship WP7 handset in America won't get Windows Phone 8. We'd also like to take this opportunity to remind you just how poorly an identical promise from Google went over in May of 2011. You may remember Andy Rubin confessing that an 18 month Android update program was being put into place at Google I/O 2011, and here we are -- halfway through 2012 -- and we've still heard zero details on how that's being policed. Pardon our skepticism, but we'll need to see it to believe it. To check out the latest updates from Microsoft's Windows Phone event, visit our liveblog!
Final Fantasy now available on Windows Phone
Dictionary.com defines an anachronism as "something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time." A steam-powered car on an interstate highway, for instance, would be an anachronism. Similarly, playing a game that dramatically pre-dates the technology you're playing it on is delightfully anachronistic.Case in point, 1987's Final Fantasy is now available for Windows Phone. The $6.99 app works on Windows Phone devices running Mango or newer and supports four languages: English, French, Chinese and Japanese. It also allows ancient cave-people like the Joystiq staff to reflect on how far technology has come, and gives young whippersnappers a chance to impress their friends by pretending to remember a game that came out before they were born.
Nokia 'sharpens strategy' by dropping three executives, laying off 10,000 and dumping Vertu
Nokia is still trying to turn things around after a slew of losses, and has made some tough decisions about how to move forward by announcing it will reduce staff by up to 10,000 people before the end of 2013. That's all part of a plan to close factories in Finland, Germany and Canada. as well as refocusing its marketing efforts, streamlining support staff and reducing "non-core" assets. Also on the outs are three executives including chief marketing officer Jerri Devard, executive VP of mobile phones Mary McDowell and executive VP of markets Niklas Savander who will step down from the company's Leadership Team effective June 30th. Replacing them July 1st are executive VP of mobile phones Timo Toikkanen, executive VP of sales and marketing Chris Weber and senior VP of communications Susan Sheehan. Additionally, it has sold the luxury brand Vertu to private equity group EQT VI in a deal that is expected to close during the second half of the year leaving just 10 percent of it in Nokia's hands. That's not the end of the bad news either, as Nokia will take a charge of 1 billion Euros ($1.3 billion) by the end of 2013 as a result of the restructuring and its efforts to return to profitability. Investments going forward including buying imaging company Scalado, extending its mapping technology to "multiple industries" and pushing more Series 40 and Series 30 devices. Check the press releases after the break for all the numbers and details currently available before it reports Q2 earnings July 19th, and we also may be able to glean more info from a call scheduled for 8AM ET.
Naver's Skype rival Line arrives on Windows Phone
Japanese Skype rival Line is branching out from its iPhone and Android garden to visit Windows Phone. Whilst the app will initially arrive with free calls disabled, the company has promised to rectify that issue in the near future. Still, WP7 users can enjoy all of that free messaging as soon as they've downloaded the app, available at our source link.
Samsung ChatON messaging app comes to Windows Phone, cross-platform party planned
Continuing to (perhaps unintentionally) kick SMS messaging to the curb, Samsung's taken another, admittedly smaller, chunk of the smartphone crowd, announcing its ChatON messaging app for Windows Phone. It has already claimed a place on Android, Bada, iOS, and BlackBerry devices, plus its own web-based client. Now the app's finally ready to embrace those long-suffering Samsung-made Windows Phones -- it's apparently available to download from the phone-based marketplace. Unfortunately, the link has gone inert on the web store, so you'll have to hit up the dedicated Samsung zone on your phone to grab the messaging service. Let's hope Victoria Justice is still looking to party.
Windows Phone Marketplace surpasses 100,000 app submissions
Hitting the big six digits is no small feat for an app store, so it's definitely worth celebrating. Taking just over five months to double its numbers, the Windows Phone Marketplace has now seen 100,000 applications submitted since its humble beginnings, and now enjoys an average daily submission count of 313 apps. As a disclaimer, this doesn't mean we currently have access to all hundred-thousand apps -- just over 10,000 of them are no longer available, which translates into 88,371 apps being live somewhere in the world. Still, the milestone is an important one because few other app stores have made it this far -- and it did so relatively quickly. For instance, the Marketplace reached this mark five months faster than the Android Market, but three months slower than the iOS App Store. Given the popularity of both competitors, we'd say that developer growth has been strong and steady for Windows Phone -- and with an exciting 'sneak peek' of the OS's future (Apollo) coming up in a couple weeks, the trend is likely to continue increasing at an exponential pace. [Thanks, Tom]
Microsoft registers series of Smart Glass domains
Microsoft was seen running away from the Internet recently with several domain names in hand, all pointing to the company's as-yet-announced AirPlay-style app, Smart Glass. The app, for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices, is said to enable push-style media functionality with the Xbox 360.Of the domains in question, Microsoft registered a series of "Microsoft smart glass" and "Xbox smart glass" addresses. Well, except for xboxsmartglass.com, which was snatched away by someone with faster fingers in China. That rascal! Here's hoping that the company unveils Smart Glass and its hot .info web addresses in the coming days.
Microsoft to announce AirPlay-esque 'Smart Glass' app at E3 for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone
An internal presentation from Microsoft to content partners reveals a soon-to-be announced Apple AirPlay-style app. Engadget got its eyes on a presentation that shows off the app, named "Smart Glass," which will enable AirPlay-style functionality on your Xbox 360 via iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7 devices.Said app will allow 360 owners to seamlessly "push" various media from the aforementioned platforms to the 360, and thusly living room televisions everywhere. From the sound of things, we'll be hearing a lot more about Microsoft's "Smart Glass" next week when E3 kicks off.
Microsoft's Photosynth app lets (some) Windows Phone users in on the panorama craze
Are you one of those folks who enjoys taking snaps of everything around you and own a Mango-flavored Windows Phone slab? Well, we've got some phenomenal news for you: Microsoft has placed its Photosynth application up for grabs on the Marketplace. It's simple, the app -- which doesn't cost a dime -- will let you shoot some 360-degree photos in both landscape and portrait mode. Additionally, you'll be able to share those all-around shots with your friends on Twitter as well as the newly public Zuck network. You can snag Redmond's Photosynth v1.0 now straight from your WP device or from the Marketplace link below -- let's just hope you can give that London panorama a run for its money.
Nokia Lumia 610 launches in the UK, starts on £15 per month contracts
Nokia's latest Windows Phone addition might not stack up to the polycarbonate glory of its forebears, but at this price, it's hard to complain that much. While the reduced RAM specification is proving tricky with some apps, the Lumia 610 has some strong points, arriving with WiFi tethering out of the box and a raft of Nokia's impressive home-made apps. We're putting the phone through its paces for review now, so you can expect our verdict pretty soon. The Lumia 610 will be available across Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Three, in a choice of white, cyan, magenta and black finishes. Phone sellers Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4u will also be more than willing to take your money and if you'd like to hear Nokia wax lyrical on its tiniest leading light, take a look right after the break.
Batman Nokia Lumia 900 priced at £600, throws in some free movie tickets
We said it was coming soon, and the Dark Knight-themed WinPho hasn't disappointed. Phones 4u has just announced that pre-ordered laser-etched Lumia 900s will be delivered on June 1st; that's this Friday. Off-contract pricing is pegged at £600, although multiple contracts are also available from the UK retailer. There doesn't appear to be any extra functionality on the special edition, although bragging rights do count for a lot. The phone will arrive in limited numbers, but neither Nokia nor Phones 4u is spilling the beans on precise unit numbers. The retailer is also throwing in free tickets to see the Dark Knight Rises at UK cinemas (or theaters) this summer, plus the chance to hit up the premiere. Pre-ordering heroes can zip-wire their way to the source link below. Update: SlashGear's been told by Phones 4u that there will be 900 of the special edition phones.
Angry Birds and PES 2012 join Skype: won't work on Windows Phones with 256MB RAM (updated)
Putting the squeeze on those hardware specifications has lead to several more app casualties on Microsoft's ever-growing mobile platform. Unfortunately, it includes one of mobile gaming's biggest hitters: Angry Birds. We gave installation a go on our own Lumia 610 and were met with the unfortunate message seen above. According to WindowsPhoneApps Spanish, it's not the only one affected by the reduction in RAM on these lower-priced smartphones. PES 2012 won't run on the lower-specced smartphone, while videocall app Tango also joins its rival Skype on the no-go list. Update: Nokia's confirmed that Rovio is, indeed, working on an optimized version of Angry Birds for the Lumia 610, though an exact release date is still up in the air.
Microsoft posts Windows 8 app porting guide roundup, forgets to include BASIC
Let's say you're a developer eager to convert your apps for Windows 8 as soon as possible. Where do you start? Microsoft Developer Evangelist Jennifer Marsman is very much aware that you might be at a loss, so she has done the rather large favor of rounding up every porting guide the company has to offer in one handy place. Some of these are pure design guides, like a previously spotted iPad-to-Metro layout article, but others dig deep into converting code for the land of home tiles and charms. The focus is on porting from the web and Windows Phone 7, so we wouldn't work up hopes of bringing your high school computer class project to Metro. Still, Marsman is looking for more guides from readers; if you've developed just the technique to convert 10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD" 20 GOTO 10 into a tablet-native Windows 8 app, return the generosity and leave pointers at the source link.
